Keratoconus and Pregnancy

[Lynne Greyvenstein]

Has anybody discovered that Keratoconus has been affected by becoming pregnant. I have been wearing hard contact lenses for 12 years now and vision is reasonable, however since coming of contraceptive pill and becoming pregnant my condition has worsened and tolerance to hard and soft lenses has become difficult. I would like to hear from anyone who has experienced this too

[Gareth2]

first of all welcome lynne to the forum, well I am not sure about being pregnent affects KC but I do know that with any extra illness or pressure on my system it is my eyes that suffer first being weak from the KC.

[mike scott]

hi guys
welcome to the forum
i agree with gareth, dont know about pregnancy being a guy myself but what ever ailment i may have affects my lens tolerance before anything else.
probably the same sort of effect as when you got a bruise somewhere, you carry on knocking it for weeks, lol
mike

[John Smith]

Hello Lynne,

I am aware of others going through similar circumstances.

The theory is that it is something to do with the hormones... as that could be why KC often is first noticed during puberty.

Hopefully, you'll get a reply from a lady soon

[GarethB]

Hi Lynne,

I know of at least two women here who were diagnosed with KC after pregnancy. It is considerd they always had KC but at a subclinical level. However after pregnancy the KC seemed to detreiorate and then settle again.

My perosnal theory is that although we have a predisposition to KC, it is hormonal changes that more than anything triggers the KC. This is why so many of us get diagnosed aas teenagers and why in women it seems to start up again as the body once again undergoes hormonal termoil.

Many womens sight changes anyway during pregnancy which is why they are entitled to free sight tests during pregnancy.

The tolerance to lenses may be ovecome by ensuring you drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration (you'll be used to this for when you get the regular scans).

You could be suffering symtoms of dry eyes but noticing it more through lens discomfort. I know when my wife was pregnant she had probles with dry skin which cleared up within days of giving birth. Lubricating eye drops may help with the lens intolerance, many here use Systane, but it can be a case of trial and error to find which best help you.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Gareth

[rosemary johnson]

Never been pregnant myself (fortunately for some).
When I was first diagnosed and pointed in the direction of contacts, my dad went and hunted through every scientific encyclopaedia around (or so it seemed!!) for info on contact lenses.
Amongst the other stuff he unearthed was the information that *both* beingo nthe pill and being pregnant can adversely affect contact lens tolerance.
I can't remember the scientific details of the explanation for that - and it was earlymid 70s, so research on the issue may have advanced. Hormones were definitely cited.
I've at times thought that liiving in East London where, reportedly, the drinking water has traces of artificial female hormones that the treatment processes can't get out, is not doin gmy health too much good - eyes for one, and weight for another.
Unfortunately when I've been out of London for any length of time, other factors have given my eyes problems (sharing an office with heavy smokers; hay fever and mozzie coils) so a comparison is hard. I did on both occasions lose weight hand over fist and without trying.
So changed hormones could be making your eyes difficult.
Another possibility is pressure - isn't high blood pressure another "occupational hazard" of pregnancy? - could your eye pressure be up a bit too?
Rosemary

[Susan Mason]

Hi Lynne

My KC was diagnosed in late 2000 and by that time I was 32 years old.

I had started to wear glasses for driving at 17 and by 21 as I was wearing the glasses more and more had moved on to soft contact lenses, for vanity more than anything elses.
After the birth of my little bot in March 1997 I noticed that I was having problems with my vision and whilst KC was not diagnosed straight away, the optoms fair put the wind up me suggesting I was maybe loosing my sight and would have to see the hospital. I never got that far as the waiting list was 48 weeks at the time, so instead I saw someone privately and once again was supplied with glasses and soft contacts which worked fine.
Early in 2000 I was pregnant again however, I miscarried and once again my eyesight deteriorated, this time resulting in me seeing someone at the hospital and being eventually diagnosed with KC by the end of the year.

Hope this info is ok for you.

I too have heard KC can be triggered by pregnancy however, have seen no more evidence to prove it than any of the other theories why KC develops.

Please try not too worry too much many things can happen to us when we are pregnant which after delivery disappear as quickly as they appeared.

best wishes

Susan

[Anne B]

Hi Lynne,

I have 3 children. Before i had my first child in 1998 i had no sight problems. After the birth i noticed a difference in my sight and had to wear glasses. I wasn't diagnosed with KC untill about a year after my third child was born. My eyesight has not changed much since being diagnosed.

i don't know if this had anything to do with my KC getting worse. It has never been mentioned to me by a doctor. But hormone changes do seem to be a factor.
The other thing is i suffer from atopic eczema around my eyes, which was a lot worse after my pregnancies. (probaly due to lack of sleep ) so i rubbed my eyes alot more.
I never had high blood pressure.
Another thing , all that pushing is enough to make anyones corneas cone
Like Susan said try not to worry about this, and enjoy being pregnant. When is your baby due?

All the best
Anne

[Lynne Greyvenstein]

Hi Guys Thank you so much for your messages of support and information regarding my keratoconus. I guess I'm just a bit down with things right now as my vision in my left eye is not nice, and these soft contacts are stinging my eye like mad after wearing time of only 5 hours. My keratoconus has got worse since I came of the contraceptive pill and again since I became pregnant. You always get scared that one day you may need the operation for the corneal graft. I keep telling myself it will get sorted but every trip to my optician doesn't seem to bring joy yet. My baby is due 22nd January 2007, really excited about that its the one thing that is keeping me going, we listened and heard the baby's heartbeat last night, its our first baby so the sound made my own heart flutter. Thank you for welcoming me to the Keratoconus website, I only recently found out about this site, it is nice to talk to other sufferers.

lol Lynne

[GarethB]

Lynne,

Another fact that I hope will put your mind at ease is that between 5 - 10% of all people with KC ever need a graft at some point in their life. So the odds are very much in your favour regarding your eyes settling again and being as comfortable as they were before.

You may well find lubricating eye drops help, you will have to remove your lenses, but drops like Systane put a film over the cornea that helps trap moisture in the cornea and also helps protect the cornea from lens wear too.

Without Systane I can barely go a couple of hours with lenses. Systane regularly gives me 12 hours lens wear in normal conditions.